Sir William Blackstone

Sir William Blackstone, by Unknown artist, circa 1755 - NPG 388 - © National Portrait Gallery, London

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Sir William Blackstone

by Unknown artist
oil on canvas, circa 1755
49 in. x 39 1/4 in. (1245 mm x 997 mm)
Purchased, 1874
Primary Collection
NPG 388

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Ingamells, John, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, 2004, p. 58
  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 59

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1755back to top

Current affairs

George Grenville resigns as Treasurer of the Navy and Henry Bilson Legge as Chancellor of the Exchequer in protest over payments made to Russia to protect Hanover. William Pitt the Elder is dismissed from the position of Paymaster of the Forces.

Art and science

Samuel Johnson publishes his monumental Dictionary; the first authoritative dictionary of the English language.
Methodist preacher John Wesley publishes Notes on a New Testament.

International

An earthquake nearly completely destroys Lisbon, Portugal. The event is widely discussed by European Enlightenment thinkers, inspiring Voltaire's Candide. Its intensive study leads to the birth of modern seismology and earthquake engineering.
Edward Braddock fights French and Indian troops in the Ohio valley. His army are ambushed at Fort Duquesne and he is killed; one of several encounters prior to the declaration of the Seven Years War.

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